The Rant: Colin Kaepernick is the face — and arms — of the new NFL

This isn’t Peyton’s or Brady’s NFL anymore, and that’s for the better.

Colin Kaepernick is what this league’s quarterbacks are about to all be looking like: a big, accurate arm with tattoos etched all across them.

What Kaepernick has done this season — other than make everybody’s spell checking machine explode with each keystroke — is usher in the new generation of quarterbacks.

Even the bare-armed ones like Russell Wilson and Ryan Tannehill still have the feel of this generation’s quarterback, a guy whose threat extends well beyond the pocket. This isn’t a race or cultural thing. It’s a matter of evolution in regard to both society and species, and it’s going to be fun to watch.